MMO Updates |
- RIFT's Ffinch on monetization and playing incognito
- Raptr hosts Neverwinter dev Q&A, prizes offered
- Vanguard producer's letter talks Pankor Zhi, bug fixes, and a new network layer
- GoblinWorks 'solidly on track' to hit Pathfinder's early enrollment goal
- The Daily Grind: Do you try to recruit your friends to play MMOs?
- MMO Family: The many ways video games teach children
- Choose My Adventure: Revisiting Middle-earth
- PAX Australia 2013: Aussies on cosplay, World of Tanks, and more
- Creating the DDO: Shadowfell Conspiracy character of your dreams
- City of Heroes spiritual successor plans Kickstarter for Sept. 8th
- PAX Australia 2013: Massively interviews Wargaming's Victor Kislyi
- Coming soon to a console near you: MMOs
- PlanetSide 2 update brings lattice system to Esamir
- WildStar spotlights Chua and Mordesh celebrities
- Chang'e, Faerie of the Moon dances into the SMITE fray
- Leaderboard: How excited are you for EverQuest Next?
- World of Tanks 8.7 update rolls into Europe today
- Neverwinter test shard gets new zone and more in hefty patch
| RIFT's Ffinch on monetization and playing incognito Posted: 25 Jul 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business Models, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, RIFT  "I just hate that word 'monetize,' Ffinch said. "'Let's monetize our players!' They're people and they're playing a game because they want to have fun, they're not a frickin' ATM machine. I don't like that attitude at all, and in the business world you can't help but hear it." He also drops a few interesting tidbits about his in-game experiences. "I'm in a guild and they don't even know I'm a dev," Ffinch says, before adding that he avoids voice chat but tries to "gently probe" his fellow players for useful feedback. "Some of the responses just make me glow inside," Ffinch explains," but then there's also the other side of it, when they respond with 'I don't know what those devs were doing, they're frickin retarded!'"
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| Raptr hosts Neverwinter dev Q&A, prizes offered Posted: 25 Jul 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Events (Real-World), Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Community Q&A, Promotions, Neverwinter  But wait, what about the reward mentioned? That would be three Feywild starter packs, one for each of the top three questions submitted; these top questions, however, will be determined by the Raptr staff, not the likes. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
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| Vanguard producer's letter talks Pankor Zhi, bug fixes, and a new network layer Posted: 25 Jul 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Vanguard, Free-to-Play  SOE's Harvey "Rahtiz" Burgess does the honors, and he says that those of you who've been away from Telon for a while will notice some changes starting with a new network layer. "While this won't solve all of the issues that we have had since the launch of Vanguard," Burgess explains, "what it will do is help us track down problematic areas of latency where we will be able to examine and resolve. Before this, we didn't really have an adequate way of troubleshooting these issues." The Vanguard team has also squashed over 50 long-standing bugs and is also still working on Pankor Zhi, though Burgess notes that it "is definitely going to be a long-term project for us." There's more to the letter, of course, so head to the official Vanguard site to read it all.
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| GoblinWorks 'solidly on track' to hit Pathfinder's early enrollment goal Posted: 25 Jul 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Pathfinder Online  The first quarter goal involved getting the game's tools and pipeline firmly in place, as well as "switching to the Unity middleware engine." The second milestone involved core game systems as well as the integration of a procedural terrain sculpting tool called Grome, the escalation system for PvE content, and plenty of art and programming work. So what about milestone three? That's covered in the lengthy dev blog as well, and GoblinWorks' Ryan Dancey says that it boils down to "polish polish polish." He also mentions that the team is "solidly on track to hit our early enrollment goal." You can read the full entry at the GoblinWorks website. [Thanks Chrysillis!]
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| The Daily Grind: Do you try to recruit your friends to play MMOs? Posted: 25 Jul 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind  To be fair, there are days when I don't either, but I still enjoy the genre more often than not, and therefore I'm prone to try impromptu recruiting pitches to random family members, friends, and acquaintances. What about you, Massively readers? Do you try to recruit your friends to play MMOs? How successful have you been?  Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
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| MMO Family: The many ways video games teach children Posted: 24 Jul 2013 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Kids, MMO Family, Family, Miscellaneous  But there are some more subtle ways that video games are teaching our children, too, and Forbes Contributing Editor Jordan Shapiro has put together a list of five types of learning through video games, regardless of whether a child is playing a serious game or is just putzing around. Let's look at the "other" side of learning through gaming, and see how it's perfectly tailored towards kid-friendly MMO experiences. Continue reading MMO Family: The many ways video games teach children
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| Choose My Adventure: Revisiting Middle-earth Posted: 24 Jul 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Polls, Lord of the Rings Online, Classes, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Choose My Adventure  But the question is: How will I play the game? LotRO is one of those classic MMOs with so much content that we won't be hurting for choices. I bought the lifetime option when the game launched, making me a current VIP, so this should open up some additional options. For this first week, you'll be choosing how I begin. Should I use an existing character or start fresh? Check out the polls after the jump below while I try to remember my account name and password. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Revisiting Middle-earth
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| PAX Australia 2013: Aussies on cosplay, World of Tanks, and more Posted: 24 Jul 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Video, Culture, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, Events (Massively's Coverage)  And while we're talking WoT, don't forget to check out our interview with Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi. Continue reading PAX Australia 2013: Aussies on cosplay, World of Tanks, and more
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| Creating the DDO: Shadowfell Conspiracy character of your dreams Posted: 24 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Classes, Expansions, Previews, Free-to-Play  Prior to adding new enhancements, reincarnations, or epic destinies, DDO had only a meager 250,000,000,000,000 possible builds to choose from. No, we didn't fall asleep pressing the "0" key. But now the choices are even greater, which is why it's of increasing importance that players understand what their characters are capable of doing and how to best build a functional toon. After all, even Turbine admits that many of the 250 trillion builds "are not really great to play with." So what will be fun to play? And why should players be interested in rolling one of the new iconic classes instead of sticking with their tried-and-true Bards? Continue reading Creating the DDO: Shadowfell Conspiracy character of your dreams
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| City of Heroes spiritual successor plans Kickstarter for Sept. 8th Posted: 24 Jul 2013 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, Interviews, Miscellaneous, Crowdfunding  In an interview with Polygon, Technical Director Nate Downes said that the project is 25% to 33% done, although the game is being made completely by 136 volunteers who have other jobs or are full-time students. The Phoenix Project is being built using the Unreal Engine, as Epic has licensed the engine to Missing Worlds with no money down until the team gets funded. Downes hopes that fans will continue to rally to the cause: "This project has grown out of the community that was left behind when City of Heroes closed, so it's really just a lot of passionate people getting together to rebuild that home for themselves."
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| PAX Australia 2013: Massively interviews Wargaming's Victor Kislyi Posted: 24 Jul 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Historical, Real-Life, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, War, Free-to-Play, Events (Massively's Coverage), World of Tanks, World of Warplanes, World of Warships  Join us after the break as the infamous Pig interviews Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi on the current state of World Tanks, World of Warplanes, and World of Warships, as well as what fans can expect in the future. Continue reading PAX Australia 2013: Massively interviews Wargaming's Victor Kislyi
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| Coming soon to a console near you: MMOs Posted: 24 Jul 2013 02:05 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Launches, MMO Industry, New Titles, Previews, PvP, PvE, Free-to-Play, Consoles, Casual, MMOFPS, Free Realms, DC Universe Online, Final Fantasy XIV, DUST 514, World of Tanks, Family, Post-Apocalyptic, EverQuest Next, Miscellaneous, PlanetSide 2, Sandbox, Diablo III, Defiance, The Elder Scrolls Online, Destiny, MMORPG, Buy-to-Play  One curious trend seems to have been missed amid the clashing of proverbial titans: There sure are a lot of MMOs and online-focused games due on consoles this generation. And since MMOs are the business of Massively, we thought it might be fun to compile a quick list of all the ones we can find that are either already available on our current consoles or set for launch on the next batch. The list, as it turns out, is pretty extensive. Continue reading Coming soon to a console near you: MMOs
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| PlanetSide 2 update brings lattice system to Esamir Posted: 24 Jul 2013 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2  Sony Online Entertainment's latest PS2 update also includes new premium weapons, Vanu weapon audio changes, a respawn screen chatbox and additions to the game's tutorial. Full patch notes from creative director Matt Higby cover the details. Implants, once planned for GU13, didn't make the cut. [Source: SOE press release]
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| WildStar spotlights Chua and Mordesh celebrities Posted: 24 Jul 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Lore, WildStar  Mondo was the runt of a Chua family who used his brilliance and psychopathic ways to off his family and secure a job as Chief Technologist for one of the Dominion's R&D firms. While crazy and cranky, Mondo has followed his ingenuity to Nexus, where he continues to research horrible tools of mass destruction from an orbital station around the planet. So go figure that the space zombie is actually the more peaceful of the two. Victor is the guy responsible for the Mordesh's undead status, as an eternal life serum he devised ended up cursing his race instead. Victor's been trying to atone for his actions by slowing the contagion and looking for ways to reverse it entirely with the revelations coming out of Nexus.
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| Chang'e, Faerie of the Moon dances into the SMITE fray Posted: 24 Jul 2013 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Patches, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, MOBA  Chang'e can purchase and sell items remotely by sending the jade rabbit to pick them up, similar to a courier in Dota 2 except that only one item can be carried at a time. All of her abilities are based in some way on dancing, and she receives a 25% movement speed bonus when using them. Chang'e is a support character, boasting evade mechanics, a stun, and ways to heal mana and hit points. Check out the Chang'e reveal trailer after the break. Continue reading Chang'e, Faerie of the Moon dances into the SMITE fray
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| Leaderboard: How excited are you for EverQuest Next? Posted: 24 Jul 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Opinion, EverQuest Next, Sandbox, Leaderboard  Actually, we've been doing that already, and today's Leaderboard is as good a place as any to continue that tradition. So, assuming that EQN follows EverQuest II's lead in deviating substantially from its predecessor, how likely are you to play it? Let's even say, for the sake of argument, that EQN is incredibly different not only from EverQuest and EQII, but from most other MMOs as well. Would you still be itching to play it? How excited are you for EverQuest Next? Vote after the break!  Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!Continue reading Leaderboard: How excited are you for EverQuest Next?
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| World of Tanks 8.7 update rolls into Europe today Posted: 24 Jul 2013 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Galleries, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, Patches, PvP, News Items, War, Free-to-Play, World of Tanks  Want to scope out the Birch Gun, Bishop, FV3805, Loyd Gun Carriage, Sexton II, and more? Check out the various new machines and the new zone in the gallery below. Then catch the update trailer after the break. [Source: Wargaming.net press release] Continue reading World of Tanks 8.7 update rolls into Europe today
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| Neverwinter test shard gets new zone and more in hefty patch Posted: 24 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Neverwinter  If you prefer to immerse yourself in the Foundry, a whole new suite of assets is coming with the release of Fury of the Feywild, including costumes, encounters, an Elven city interior, maps, objects, and more. The Foundry, however, will be disabled for the first part of the expansion play test. Other odds and ends of this patch include changing the reset time for daily quests to a standard 6:00 a.m. EDT, new items, and class adjustments along with a fair amount of tweaks and bug fixes. Catch all the details in the full patch notes. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
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